IT unemployment rate moves from 5.5% to 4.3%
Number of unemployed IT Pros fell to 121,000 versus 156,000 last month
BLS cuts 16K IT jobs from the initially reported in January in addition to 53,200 cuts made in January
Park City - UT - e-janco.com - Janco reports the overall unemployment rate for IT pros in February fell to 4.3% from 5.5% in January. Also, the number of open unfilled IT positions rose from 154,000 to 211,000. This data implies hiring IT Pros could be on the upswing, but needs to be tempered as the IT unemployment rate of 4.3% is still higher than the overall US unemployment rate of 3.9%.
Janco’s initial forecast is that the IT job market will shrink by another 20,000 to 30,000 jobs in 2024. This is based on current BLS data, hiring trends monitored by Janco, budgets for IT initiatives in 234 companies Janco monitors, and its proprietary forecasting model.
Many IT Pros who lost their jobs earlier found positions in March and drove the IT unemployment rate down.
The IT Unemployment rate in the past several months has exceeded the US national unemployment rate - That is a bad omen for the IT Job Market in general. This impact can be seen in both the computer hardware and software markets in falling sales. There currently are over 96,000 unemployed IT Professionals. Read on...
Change In IT Job Market Size - February 2024
22,000 IT Jobs have been added in the last 12 months and 1,300 jobs eliminated in the last 3 months.
The CEO of Janco, M. Victor Janulaitis said, “The unemployment rate for IT Professionals improved to 4.3% from 5.5% in January. The number of unemployed IT Pros fell to 121,000 from 156,000. Last month we believed that the data presented by the BLS did not completely represent the condition of the IT job market. The BLS removed 16,000 jobs from the initial report in January. With that readjustment, the current YTD number of IT jobs created now is 2,400. The adjustments made by the BLS paint a much brighter employment picture.”
The CEO added, “CIOs for large enterprises, Experienced Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning IT Professionals are in high demand. Salaries for those professionals are well into the low six figures. Salaries for management positions with AI skills are in the $150K to $250K range. Experienced managers and developers are getting offers in the $125K to $165K range. “
Janulaitis stated, “From our interviews, we have found that most of the hiring and job growth is small to mid-sized enterprises. Many of the larger firms continue to be focused on staff reductions. AI is slowing the growth of entry-level positions within IT, especially in customer service, telecommunications, and hosting automation. CIOs and CFOs in larger firms are looking to improve the productivity of IT by automating processes and reporting where possible. They are focusing on eliminating “non-essential” managers, staff, and services. Experienced coders and developers still have opportunities. The highest demand continues to be for AI, security professionals, programmers, and blockchain processing IT Pros. The move to AI applications is reducing demand for many entry-level positions in IT. “
The CEO added, “According to the latest BLS data analyzed, there are now just under 4.18 million jobs for IT Professionals in the US. Layoffs at big tech companies continued to hurt overall IT hiring. CIOs are looking at a troubling economic climate and are evaluating the need for increased headcounts based on the technological requirements of their specific business operations. With a mean total compensation of $100K for IT Pros, IT will continue to be a target for budget cutting.”
The BLS adjusted the number of IT jobs initially reported for December and January. They updated the number of jobs initially added in December (reduced by 3,700 jobs) and January (reduced by 12,300).NOTE: The BLS continues to adjust the number of IT jobs initially created in previous months. They have adjusted down by over 13,000 jobs in seven of the last 12 months. This in turn inflates the number of jobs reported in the current month.
The adjustments reported by the BLS make January look better when comparing 2024 to 2023.
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